Shelley Hack
American actress
title: "Shelley Hack" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-film-actresses", "american-television-actresses", "living-people", "actresses-from-greenwich,-connecticut", "female-models-from-new-york-(state)", "smith-college-alumni", "20th-century-american-actresses", "american-female-models", "21st-century-american-women", "1947-births"] description: "American actress" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelley_Hack" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American actress ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Shelley Hack |
| image | Shelley Hack - Studio Portrait (1979).jpg |
| caption | Studio portrait (1979) |
| birth_name | Shelley Marie Hack |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S. |
| education | {{Plain list |
| known_for | {{Plain list |
| occupation | |
| years_active | 1975–present |
| spouse | |
| children | 1 |
| :: |
| name = Shelley Hack | image = Shelley Hack - Studio Portrait (1979).jpg | caption = Studio portrait (1979) | birth_name = Shelley Marie Hack | birth_date = | birth_place = Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | education = {{Plain list|
- Smith College (AB)
- New York Institute of Technology (MBA) | known_for = {{Plain list|
- Charlie's Angels
- Annie Hall
- Jack and Mike
- The King of Comedy
- Troll
- The Stepfather | occupation = | years_active = 1975–present | spouse = | children = 1
Shelley Marie Hack (born July 6, 1947) is an American actress, model, producer, and political activist. She is best known as the face of Revlon's Charlie perfume from the mid-1970s until the early 1980s, and for her role as Tiffany Welles in the fourth season of Charlie's Angels (1979–80).
Early life
Hack was born in Greenwich, Connecticut on July 6, 1947,
Career
Hack began her career as a teen fashion model whose first job put her on the cover of Glamour magazine. Later she became the face of Revlon's "Charlie" perfume from the mid-1970s until the early 1980s, during which it became the world's top selling fragrance. Life proclaimed her one of the "million-dollar faces" in the beauty industry; select models who were able to negotiate previously unheard-of lucrative and exclusive deals with giant cosmetics companies, were instantly recognizable, and whose names became known to the general public. Hack ranked among a handful of 1970s "supermodels".
Hack's feature-film debut was a bit part in Woody Allen's Academy Award-winning film Annie Hall (1977) as "Street Stranger." She had a leading role in the Joe Brooks romance drama, If Ever I See You Again ("A bomb", she admitted).
Shortly thereafter she was cast as Kate Jackson's replacement on the television series Charlie's Angels, playing the sophisticated character Tiffany Welles for one season (1979–1980). She beat out many competitors for the role, including Michelle Pfeiffer and Barbara Bach. Although there was an initial rise in the ratings (her debut episode was number one in the weekly Nielsen ratings), they began to decline. Responding to the fallen ratings, ABC released Hack from her contract in February 1980.
A statement later issued by Spelling-Goldberg read: "When she signed her contract for the series, Miss Hack had a personal agreement that she could review her continuation with the show at the end of her first season since series television represented an enormous change in her career and lifestyle. In case Miss Hack decides not to come back next season on a regular basis, she has agreed to do several guest-star appearances on the show." " This implied that Hack was included in the decision to exit Charlie's Angels. In an interview, Hack said, "They can say I didn't work out, but it isn't true. What happened was a network war. A business decision was made. Change the timeslot or bring on some new publicity. How to get publicity? A new Angel hunt. Who is the obvious person to replace? I am — the new kid on the block. I was supposed to play the 'Intelligent College Girl from the East' [but] maybe that type didn't fit into Charlie's Angels." Hack later said she "never expected to be there more than a year and I wasn't. I did my year and I moved on."
Hack played a variety of starring and supporting roles. She starred with Annette O'Toole and Meredith Baxter Birney in Vanities (1981), a television production of the comedy-drama stage play about the lives, loves and friendship of three Texas cheerleaders starting from high school to post-college graduation; it aired as a part of Standing Room Only, a series on the premium-television channel HBO.
She received positive reviews for her portrayal of Cathy Long in Martin Scorsese's film The King of Comedy (1983). She had leading roles in two cult films: the comedy-horror film, Troll (1986) and the horror film The Stepfather (1987). She was also a regular on two short-lived TV series of the 1980s, Cutter to Houston (1983) and Jack and Mike (1986–87). In addition to several more notable appearances in film and television and on stage, she narrated the audiobook The Lord of Hawkfell Island, for which AudioFile stated "Shelley Hack's mellifluous voice brings this Viking tale alive."
In 1984, Hack was hired to replace Paula Kelly and portray new public defender Christine Sullivan - who was going to be romantically involved with Judge Harry Stone (Harry Anderson) - on the sitcom Night Court, But when the series started rehearsals, Hack and producer Reinhold Weege realized there was a problem. "What happened was the role was changed, Instead of being a funny lady, as she was in the reading, they had changed her into a straight woman. It wasn't working, The concept just didn't work and that's what I told them...what's the point if it's not working?" Hack and the producer mutually and amicably agreed she would not continue with the series. Ellen Foley was brought in for season two as a new character, public defender Billie Young. In season three Markie Post was hired to portray Christine Sullivan.
In 1987, Hack, a former smoker, was named the national chairperson for the National Lung Association's and American Medical Association's campaign to educate young women on the dangers of cigarette smoking.
Hack completed a master's degree in business administration from New York Institute of Technology and shortly afterward (unofficially) retired from acting.
In October 2000, appearing as herself, Hack returned to the Charlie's Angels Townsend Agency office as a guest host on Biography, which featured profiles of several Charlie's Angels stars during '"Hello Angels Week". In January 2008, Hack appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the episode, "Classic Americana", that highlighted Hack as Revlon's Charlie perfume model in a 1976 television ad with Bobby Short at the piano. "It was a time when women were changing," Hack said. "Women looked at [the ad] and said, 'I want to be like that'." Additionally, referring to the Revlon Charlie commercials and Charlie's Angels, she said, "I was lucky. There were two things I was in that were about making women feel a little more empowered."
Hack and her husband Harry Winer are co-presidents of the production company Smash Media, which develops and produces content for motion pictures, television and new media.
Political activism
Shelley Hack became a voting registration and polling station supervisor in the 1997 elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina and produced the first-ever televised presidential debates there as well. She also produced the debates in Sarajevo, Mostar, and the two in Banja Luka. In 1997, Hack founded the Shelley Hack Media Consultancy (SHMC), where, over the course of ten years, she worked with the largest media conglomerate in Eastern Europe,
Personal life
Hack has been married to film director and university professor Harry Winer since 1990. The couple have one child, daughter Devon Rose Winer (b. 1990).
Filmography
Film
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Annie Hall | Street Stranger | |
| 1978 | If Ever I See You Again | Jennifer Corly | |
| 1979 | Time After Time | Docent | Narrator |
| 1983 | The King of Comedy | Cathy Long | |
| 1986 | Troll | Anne Potter | |
| 1987 | The Stepfather | Susan Maine | |
| 1991 | Blind Fear | Erika | |
| 1992 | The Finishing Touch | Hannah | |
| Me Myself & I | Jennifer | ||
| 1996 | House Arrest | Dr. Erica Gilliland, Ph.D. | Uncredited |
| :: |
Television
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Married: The First Year | Linda | Episode: "An Old Friend" |
| Death Car on the Freeway | Janette Clausen | Television film | |
| 1979–1980 | Charlie's Angels | Tiffany Welles | Main role, 26 episodes |
| 1980 | The Love Boat | Carol Ketay | Segment: "Dumb Luck" |
| 1981 | HBO Standing Room Only (SRO) | Mary | Episode: "Vanities" |
| 1981 | Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade | Herself | Float: "Charlie and the Nutcracker" |
| 1982 | The American Sportsman | Herself | Episode dated July 4, 1982 |
| 1983 | Cutter to Houston | Dr. Beth Gilbert | 9 episodes |
| Found Money (aka My Secret Angel) | Leslie | Television film | |
| Trackdown: Finding the Goodbar Killer | Logan Gay | ||
| Close Ties | Anna | ||
| 1984 | Single Bars, Single Women | Frankie | |
| 1985 | Kicks (aka Destination Alcatraz) | Maggie Pierson | |
| 1986–1987 | Jack and Mike | Jackie Shea | 16 episodes |
| 1988 | Celebrity Chefs | Herself | Guest |
| 1989 | Bridesmaids | Kimberly | Television film |
| 1990 | Frederick Forsyth Presents | Monica Browne | Episode: "A Casualty of War" |
| 1992 | Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story | Nan Horvat | Television film |
| 1993 | seaQuest DSV | Capt. Marilyn Stark | Pilot/Episode: "To Be or Not to Be" |
| Not in My Family | Becky Worth | Television film | |
| A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Wicked Wives | Abby Walters-Morrison | ||
| 1994 | L.A. Law | Lynn Barnett | Episode: "Whose San Andreas Fault is it, Anyway?" |
| Tales from the Crypt | Janet McKay | Episode: "The Assassin" | |
| 1995 | Falling from the Sky: Flight 174 (aka Freefall: Flight 174) | Lynn Brown | Television film |
| 1996 | Frequent Flyer | JoBeth Rawlings | Television film |
| 1997 | Diagnosis Murder | Dr. Elaine Denell | Episode: "Looks Can Kill" |
| TheraCel (Skin Care) | Herself | Infomercial | |
| 2000 | Biography | 5 Episodes: "Hello Angels Week" | |
| Time and Again (TV series): Charlie's Angels | Retrospective | ||
| 2002 | TV Tales: Charlie's Angels | Documentary | |
| 2008 | The Oprah Winfrey Show | Episode: "Classic Americana" | |
| Whatever Happened To...? | Episode: "Alpha Females" | ||
| 2017 | The Real Mad Men of AdvertisingThe Real Mad Men of Advertising S01-E03-The 1970s on YouTube | Episode: The 1970s | |
| :: |
Stage
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Vanities | Mary |
| 1982 | Born Yesterday | Billie Dawn |
| 1983 | Close Ties | Anna |
| 1989 | Tamara | Luisa Baccara |
| :: |
Discography/Audio book
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | The First Family Rides Again | A voice on the phone |
| 1993 | The Big Book for Our Planet | Narrator |
| 1993 | Lord of Hawkfell Island (Viking Era, Book 2) | Narrator |
| :: |
Home video
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | The Celebrity Guide to Wine | Herself |
| 1993 | The Celebrity Guide to Entertaining | Herself |
| :: |
Production
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Lucky Christmas | Producer | Television film |
| 2015 | Perfect Match | Producer | Television film |
| 2016 | Summer of Dreams | Producer | Television film |
| 2017 | Christmas in Evergreen | Producer | Television film |
| 2017 | A Bramble House Christmas | Producer | Television film |
| 2018 | Falling for You | Producer | Television film |
| :: |
References
References
- Cheryl Lavin. (September 14, 1986). "Vital Statistics: Shelley Hack". Chicago Tribune.
- Smilgis, Martha. (September 24, 1979). "Charlie's Latest Angel". [[People (magazine).
- Tobias, Andrew (1983). ''Fire and Ice: The Story of Charles Revlon, the Man who Built the Revlon Empire.''
- Best–Selling Beauties, ''[[Life (magazine). Life]]'' October 1981, page 120
- Gidlow, Steve. (January 30, 2018). ""Charlie's Angels" Star Shelley Hack Finds Heaven at Hallmark". MediaVillage.
- (March 10, 1980). "Caught in the Nielsen Wars, Charlie's Latest Pearly Angel, Shelley Hack, Gets the Gate". [[People (magazine).
- "Charlie's Angels". Primary Fusion Productions.
- "The Lord of Hawkfell Island". [[AudioFile (magazine).
- "About Us". Smash Media.
- "''Oprah'' show – Charlie Girl Shelley Hack".
- {{YouTube. 5juK-UrgJG0. Video of ''Charlie'' TV commercial
- [http://www.roadode.com/realram/charlie150.ram RealVideo format of ''Charlie'' TV commercial]
- "''Oprah'' show - Charlie Girl Shelley Hack".
- (July 6, 2014). "Happy Birthday To Greenwich's Shelley Marie Hack". [[The Daily Voice (U.S. hyperlocal news).
- "Harry Winer - Director [ABOUT]".
- "Harry Winer – Associate Arts Professor". [[New York University Tisch School of the Arts.
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